When I walked home Tuesday with 2 orange Sainsbury’s bags filled with eatables, I happened to bump into The British Fashion awards ceremony which was held in Lawrence Hall, Horticultural Halls in London.
Lawrence Hall, got that? It is just around the corner from where I live. it’s good to live close to Lawrence, and despite a well chosen venue name, I turned down the invitation (hey I got the shoes now, you know).
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I have designed my “this is not a xmas card” card and I am quite pleased with the result, it is very colourful. They are ordered and should be with me between now and 3 weeks. This means that they probably won’t be with you before Xmas, but hey, it is not an xmas card anyway. I will send out an email to the 19 lucky people who are now struggling to find/make a card on the “love, actually” theme. Know that my card fits into that theme as well, and that I am so looking forward to receive 19 postcards with Christmas!
Talking about Christmas.
I attended a Bafta screen writing session yesterday, so this post is about all the above, a lot about screen writing and film making too, and about the homecoming of Davy. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
When I was doing the Roosevelt Island aerial tram, I took some pictures while looking down. My idea was to take some of the yellow New York taxis, and I did while hovering over them, and on one of them this bloke walked into my picture.
Again, I didn’t notice anything at the time, I was way too busy to get over this exhausting experience of being high. However, when I looked at this picture a bit closer, I found that this man looks very much like someone I know well.
I won’t mention his name, just to see if you think so too, because maybe it is just my (too) lively imagination (again). And I am not even sure if he was in NY at the time I was there.
But don’t you think he looks quite a bit like ….
(In the photoblog: A picture of my favourite building, up close.)
New York wisdom
No I am not American. And one day to say thank you a year is not enough for me. I say thanks a lot. I said thank you a lot today.
So what did I do all weekend? I sat inside. And worked hard.
And …
This is London
Here is one of the lovely songs from the soundtrack of the great Dan in real life. The whole soundtrack has been created especially for this film by Norwegian singer-songwriter Sondre Leche. And I think he has done a marvelous job, the songs integrate perfectly with the film.
Too late …
OK. In the mean time I try to drag myself back to my script. I am on page 68 and moving towards the last 20 minutes of the film where the 2 main characters are going to have some final obstacles before they, at last (!), are prepared to be surprised. I think I have the title too. In order to write I need to be in some kind of mood and to get there I often listen to music. At this moment it’s a soundtrack, and more particular this song, of the film I have mentioned too many times now.
Have a good weekend. More Un-New-Yorky New York pictures coming up.
And be prepared to be surprised.
Baby
Be prepared to be surprised
When I wrap my arms around you
Every mistake we made crumbles
Grigorisgirl did the voice meme, and I thought it was fun to hear.
I hate to hear myself talk, it’s surreal and I sound stupid. But I decided to
challenge the fear of sounding ridiculous. I ploughed through all 13 questions (with a lot of ehrms!) and somehow ended up rambling for more than 7 minutes! Blame question 11 and 12 for that.
At least I didn’t sing along with James M.
And I am so close to removing this post.
It will always be my favourite subject to write about, and it’s also an excellent excuse to post a picture that hasn’t anything to do with New York. Not directly anyway.
Here is an update on the project.
The Girl is currently staying in Luxembourg, the UK and the US. And while I thought the end of the tour was in sight, the list of participants is growing again, with recent sign ups from Dubai, Edinburgh and London added to the map and the list.
I also received 2 new reviews, one from Robert in Croatia, and one from Robin and Hannah in the UK. A big thank you to the both of them for writing them and for participating.
Two new New York pictures in the photoblog:
Step in for the reviews, they deserve to be read.
I know you have been waiting for this, so here we go: Post No Bills ghosts, the New York way. I am afraid that this isn’t the end of it, yet.
Things I noticed in and about New York:
“Hi” he says.
“Hi” I kiss him on the cheek. “Thanks for picking me up”.
“Always a pleasure, it has been too long. Is that all your luggage?”
“Yes. Do you think I can take some pictures?”¨
“Sure. They might look a bit, ehrm, spacey, but try.”
We buckle up and I grab my camera.
“Ready?” he smiles.
“Ready”.
“When do you need to be back in London?”
“Oh, don’t hurry the journey at all.”
We lean back, he presses it, and while I try to capture some photos we are off.
The infinite improbaBILLity drive.
Better if it lasts for years.
Go.
I really want to stay in New York. Really. Stay.
I know why. Because it is a place away from daily routines, work, life and responsibilities. I know that if I would move here (the thought has struck my mind more than once lately) it would lose its magic. And then I would miss London. It’s like having two lovers. So the best way to solve this I guess is to go here once a year. That way the love and passion for New York will remain just that while London will be my faithful friend. Isn’t that how it works in real life too?
Some photos coming up tomorrow. See you in London.
I walked the Brooklyn Bridge, which should be number one on your list of things to do if you ever get to New York. It is amazing, the view on Manhattan is astonishing. And with a bit of sunshine, blue sky and white clouds, it’s wonderful.
I made lots of feathered friends on Pier 17. They loved me unconditionally. Because I had a blue berry muffin. How amazing is it to be able to sit outside in the sun for a while, watching the river, in the middle of November?
I also sat on Woody Allen’s bench and recreated one of the most beautiful scenes of his “Manhattan” in my head while I sat and watched Queensboro bridge.
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It rained yesterday, nearly all day. But as you know rain doesn’t really bother me, and with an M&S umbrella I managed to stay dry most of the time. The only thing that is a bit hard in the rain is taking pictures. So I did some indoor shopping (Cup cakes should come with a serious warning), bought the obligatory pair of Levi’s (which really are ridiculously cheap if you are used to London prices) and did a lot of walking.
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New York is familiair but different. I know London well now, walking around in a big city is fine, but I can feel that I am more alert walking around in New York. And New York is different. It’s good, it keeps my eyes open, it makes me more aware and it makes me want to grab my camera all the time. I love that feeling.
It has been a very long day, it’s 22.33 now, local NY time, that’s 3.33am London time. I forced myself not to go to bed too early in order to quickly adjust to the New York time schedule.
Unfortunately both (!) my theatre plays have been cancelled due to a big strike on Broadway (about everything is cancelled on Broadway, has been for some days, and will be for some days to come). I am not too sad about it, I would have loved to see Kevin Kline but there is enough to see here and I am just really(!) grateful they didn’t strike when I came here to see The Vertical Hour last time.
I just came back from the cinema and saw American Gangster. Russell Crowe is not convincing, Denzel Washington on the other hand is cracking in this one.
I haven’t been too far around yet, but walked on Broadway and winked to both the Empire State Building (which is lit in blue at the moment, my favourite colour) and the beautiful Chrysler building.
Need some sleep now so will roll into my bed, which isn’t that far a roll, I am typing this from behind a free internet pc in my hotel.
Good night from New York.
Packed suitcase.
Charged batteries.
Loaded iPod with the right tunes and voiciliciousness.
2 paper notebooks and a couple of pens.
Camera.
Passport, plane ticket and theatre ticket reservations (let’s see what happens).
Credit card.
The need to relax and be away for a couple of days.
2 lucky coins in my pocket.
I am ready.
Irregular posting the next couple of days, but I surely will write from the Internet cafe in 23rd Street, just around the corner of the Empire State building.
See you in New York.
For a very short moment. No long post this time, but photos with short captions in stead which should give some sort impression of how the weekend has been.
I need to unpack and pack for tomorrow. It was nice coming home to a fantastic postcard that has been travelling since the 2nd of October and finally seemed to have found me this weekend. (Royal Mail keeps amazing me, and not in a good way). And there was more good stuff in my postbox, a DVD and a CD all related to that man, and send by the same kind person that send me other things. I need to think about a something good to send back to that person, because it is nearly too much to accept all this.
Step inside for the pictures, then I will continue to sing along to The Police – Every breath you take.
Oh, and the Girl is going to Dubai. Isn’t that cool?
I am off to the Netherlands for a couple of days. To eat my mothers Bangers & Mash, a dutch film version of Love Actually (oh yeah), visits to my old Grand parents (they are 89 and 93, but don’t tell them I wrote “old” because they are not, according to themselves) and the rest of my family.
I know from experience that I won’t have time to write, so unless something extraordinary happens (like meeting Mr. Scrummylicious in a Dutch snack bar, I mean I got the stardust now remember) you won’t hear from me until Tuesday where I will shortly touch base in London before heading off to New York.
In the mean time you can have a look at Charlie, decide if you are going to pick up the last extremely-limited-edition-due-to-be-a-collectors-item-cards or just stay put till I am back.
Have a great weekend.
Charlie Cox and Claire Danes in Stardust
I saw Stardust some weekends ago. Overhyped maybe, but I loved it. It’s a fairy tale with humour. Don’t let big names like Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert de Niro put you off, there are enough Brits in it to make it worth seeing, and honestly Robert de Niro is playing a role I haven’t seen him play before (and he is a pirate, and we love pirates over here as you may have noticed). Ricky Gervais (who I still think is one of the funniest Brits around) is in it too, and despite being dressed up it just feels like he is playing either Andy Millman from Extras or David Brent from the Office. That doesn’t matter at all because he does that so well.
Other delights in this film: Nathaniel Parker (Inspector Lynley), the voice of Ian McKellen, Peter O’Toole, and new British cutie-pie of the year: Charlie Cox (hurrah for a daring casting director, brave enough to cast a relatively unknown actor, who happened to be pitch perfect for the role). The script has some beautiful British quirkiness as well. So yes, go see it.
I wrote the above some weekends ago but never got around to posting it, my editor didn’t find it interesting enough. I think he probably didn’t like the “cutie-pie” bit, he’s a bit sensitive sometimes, but I love him anyway.
Today I walked home from work. It was dark, it was rainy, it was late, I was tired and I passed the S&M cafe, and I thought – well why not. So I stepped in for another bangers and mash.
Trust me you really want to read the rest of this post…
On learning new words and expressions, finding love on a stranger, and a random act of kindness.
